Heavy Snow — Eastern Strait of Juan De Fuca, Washington

2021-12-25 to 2021-12-27 · Eastern Strait of Juan De Fuca, Washington

Event narrative

A Winter Storm brought heavy snow to the northern side of the Olympic Peninsula during the last week of December. Snow was orographically enhanced, resulting in an average of 10-20 inches for locations along the East Strait of Juan de Fuca, with most of the 20 inch reports located just south of Port Angeles.

Wider weather episode

A very cold airmass pushed into Western Washington at the end of December, resulting in cold air amidst sufficient moisture and lift as a modified arctic frontal boundary slid south. This made for significant lowland and mountain snow, with a period of drier but much colder weather for the following days. Several climate sites reached record low temperatures during and shortly after the winter storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 998740. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.